“5 Mental Hacks”; Watch Your Blog Traffic Soar!

Let me begin by saying, I absolutely, without a doubt feel the Great Big World of Blog, is flooded with information. All of the available resources, guides, experts, printable, etc. is not only confusing at times, but could easily overwhelm a person if you let it.

Don’t Let It!

Keep an open mind, realize there will be a few “trial and error” times. Be willing to continue to listen to new concepts. You never know, could be just what you needed!

However, figure out what works best for your style and audience and tailor to those needs. Along with keeping the open mind and accepting new ideas….BE PATIENT! – I get hung up on that one.

Then incorporate these six very simple Hacks for the Mentality. My Lifestyle Blog is in no way where I want to be, however, I really am amazed how this simple mindsets give momentum to the Blogging Traffic if you a persistent!

“6 Mental Hacks” For Bloggers & Other Creatives

Share And Share Alike:

In other words, “Share The Blog Love”! Or you may have heard it put. “Caring Is Sharing.” If you are a photographer, writer, food blogger, or have a DIY website, sharing others creations or articles is a great idea.

Your readers will enjoy variety in your website content. Promoting other’s work draws more followers on other Social Media such as Twitter, Facebook Groups and Pages, Pinterest, and Tumblr. Which only names a few. By doing so, you are sure to gain new followers from their Social Media who pop over to check out your site. This “Audience Ball picks up momentum, a win/win for everyone concerned.

Blogging Is Not A Competition:

really, it is not. I will let you in on a little secret. At the beginning of my Blogging adventure, I THOUGHT IT WAS! Or it seems I had that mentality.

I cruised the internet discovering different types of websites, writing styles and pieces regarding monetizing. In the back of my mind, I had thoughts such as, “I need that page layout”, “I need to be an Affiliate for this or that company or resource” or “Well, this person or that person has a certain widget or pluggin, I MUST have it too!” It won’t be right if I don’t….Right?

WRONG!

Please do me a favor and DO NOT DO, THAT TO YOURSELF! Believe me, there are enough Affiliate Programs, widgets, pluggins, menus, banners and to go around! Utilize what you feel the connection with and trust. When making theses choices what to use and what not to, think about your niche and what your readers enjoy.

And, ALWAYS, ALWAYS remember to be patient and get the facts straight.

Don’t Be Shy, Join The Party:

Image by InLinkz.com

If you aren’t already active in a few, you probably have seen or heard of “Link Parties”, or various different Social Media Parties. THEY ARE EVERYWHERE!! Many Bloggers or Website Owners pick a specific day of the week, Holiday, a special theme or niche to throw a Party.

This is a wonderful opportunity to Network with others, gain knowledge and new ideas. And, honestly one of my favorite reasons to “Link-Up” is developing new friendships and interacting with fellow bloggers/writers. I have established some very strong relationships and have had the privilege to learn from some pretty amazing writers/website creators and Blogging Coaches!.

When your creation is live, Spread The Word!:

Image by Pixabay.com

Yes, sharing work on personal Social Media does take a little time. However, published articles today are unlike those of the They are not delivered to our audiences door step anymore. As Writers, Bloggers, Website Owners Content Managers and any other hat being worn, it is up to us to yell, “Read All About It!”

Again, many Social Platforms exist and to be honest, I know for me personally, there are many more I have yet to discover. A few of my Absolute Go To’s are: Pinterest, Google+, Twitter, Tumblr, StumbleUpon and even LinkedIn for certain pieces. As well as all the appropriate Facebook Groups, which most have Group Guidelines for sharing and posting.

Image by Janice Wald, MostlyBlogging.com

Getting familiar with different guidelines does add to time spent sharing. To help with keeping it all straight with Facebook Groups, look for resources available. Many of these resources are all laid out in way sharing is made simple.

Sharing IS Caring, but boy it takes time!

Sharing across the Social Media circuit, I think, is one of the most time consuming tasks and requires some organization and planning. Be that as it may, it is also one of the most important tasks we have when we complete a piece. If you haven’t already, I would suggest checking out some of the Sharing Platforms. I have used Tailwinds primarily as I find it user friendly and simple to figure out. Once I got the hang of how to schedule my posts for a future date and time, I loved the extra time I found myself having.

There are many others offering similar and different organizing tools for Social Media. I am still browsing the web myself to see what they have to offer. See what you find out and use the one that best suits your blogging needs.

Challenging Yourself & Being Yourself

When I began my Blogging journey a little over a year ago, I hadn’t pinpointed a specific niche or topic I favored writing about. I had no writing or blogging experience, no published articles under my belt.

In many of my past articles, I explain how I was given a rare opportunity here at Collective Voice Magazine. No experience, unsure of my Niche or the topic I felt passionate about, yet still welcomed aboard with open arms.

I wrote a few pieces for the Launch Day and I soon realized that writing about Life, Motherhood and the experiences that come along with them along with some lesson or thought to take away, was easy. Basically a No Brainer.

Not too long after we launched, we began different writing exercises or Writing Challenges.

Image by Pixabay.com

The first few Challenge Prompts I was given weren’t as hard as I had anticipated. I was able to incorporate my style of writing, my experiences in life and motherhood and create an article. As time went on, the Challenge Prompts became a bit more difficult for me and took a little more thinking and creating where to go with my piece.

I have also mentioned in previous articles there was a day I was given my Prompt and it stop me in my tracks. At times prompts were assigned to us by randomly choosing a number or maybe our Birthday. We each would post the information in the comment section of the post in our Writer’s Group on Facebook. Jordan (our Creator/Owner) would then comment back with our assigned prompt.

The day the Prompt left me speechless

After commenting with my individual number, I checked back for my Prompt. That day my Prompt read: “Do you think you are brave?” I knew the correct answer to that question. Commenting back, I simply wrote, “NO!

I received a notification that Jordan had commented back. When I checked, he simply wrote, “You are braver than you think you are. I wasn’t convinced at first by his comment, thinking clearly he doesn’t know me very well. I don’t do well with creepy crawly things of any kind and I am not a fan of going out alone in the dark.

This one was going to take some concentration.

It was clear to me at that moment, I was going to have to open my mind and ponder what he had said to me.

Image by Pixabay.com, Created on Canva.com by Teresa Brnam Wilgus

So, I did. I took much longer than normal. I think I tossed this one around in my head for a couple days. Finally it came to me and the article I came up with, in my opinion, was one of my best yet at that point. I titled my piece, “Finding My Shade Of Brave”.

Simply because, that is exactly what I had to do for those two days. I had to open my creative mind a little wider and step a little farther out of my creative box. To this day, I still despise creepy crawly things and remain a “scaredy cat” when it comes to going out in the dark alone.

But, I discovered, yes, I am brave. As many times it does, life has thrown some blows. Taking those life blows and the brave prompt, made me realize strength and bravery come in many forms. Over the last year, I have become a huge fan of Challenge Prompts. Pushing my creativity, attempting a topic outside of the norm and keeping my own personal style of writing as I write, has allowed me to enhance the content I provide the audience.

Like I mentioned at the beginning of this article, it makes no difference if you are a Mommy Blogger, Writer, Photographer or have a DIY Blog, Writing Challenges can work. The Challenges enhance your content and add variety. This in turn will draw in additional readers who have an interest in the topic of a particular article. Therefore, helping to grow your Blog Traffic.

Engaging and interacting with our readers, motivates me.

Give these Hacks a try and then come back and let us know what you think. Did you tailor them a bit to fit then needs of your audience. How did you step outside of your Creative Box while putting your own personal spin on things? Did you discover a new Social Media or Sharing platform? If so, tell us about it!

Image by Pexels.com

We writers here at Collective Voice, love to provide helpful and resourceful information to our readers. And, we appreciate the feedback so we can all grow and discover new concepts from you!

Teresa Branam Wilgus

In her spare time she likes to get outside and take advantage of the beautiful Pacific Northwest summers and experiencing new adventures with her boyfriend of 5 1/2 years.
She is an admitted football fanatic and loves the excitement of participating in Fantasy Football with her sons, boyfriend, family and friends from the Pacific Northwest, Florida and Indiana!
The only work she have had published, is a poem published in Creativity Magazine when she was in the 8th grade. She has always enjoyed writing, however it wasn’t until encouraged by a professor and a few friends that she realized writing just might be the “Gift” God gave her.
Teresa is preparing her Freelance/Content Writing Services for Launch in February 2017. Services are available for businesses and corporations of all sizes and also to those Bloggers wanting to enhance their own content for readers.
Her ultimate goal is to have a book published based on personal experiences in her own life and hopes it is not only entertaining and engaging, but might also help some reader, somewhere, somehow.